The inventions disclosed herein relate generally to improved medical care for intubated patients, and more particularly to novel low dead space improvements, and related methods, for ventilating, aspirating, monitoring, sampling, and providing therapeutic delivery to the respiratory tract of intubated medical patients, including infants, adolescents, and adults.
Respiratory patient care is a dynamically developing field in medicine, ranging in its needs from infants to the aged. The range of respiratory ailments, both temporary and permanent, to which such patients are subjected are many and varied. The frontier of medical knowledge is advancing and recommended treatments have become a blend of old and more recent discoveries.
Most problems now center or focus on multiple needs of the patient and accommodation of multiple treatments, some to be performed at the same time. The lack of equipment to facilely, efficiently, and safely accomplish the multiple therapies in the best interest of the patient has been and continues to be a concern. Other equipment problems also exist which concern preventing cost-oriented, unsafe extended use of ventilating, aspirating, and other respiratory access apparatus, reliability during use, quick and reliable removal and exchange of spent aspirating and ventilating devices without comprising the quality of health care provided to the patient, avoiding intentional or inadvertent conversion from a closed system to an open system, prevention of stress and/or occlusion of flow passageways to and from the patient""s respiratory system, avoidance of a large inventory of a variety of incompatible products, providing easy, fail-safe access for multiple purposes.
By way of an example only, with low lung capacity patients, such as premature babies and adults suffering from emphysema, is the removal of accumulated lung secretions without starving the patient for oxygen (thereby causing undesirable side effects) during the secretion removal process.
Sight must not be lost as to the deficiencies in prior proposals in terms of risks created for the health care provider. Largely, proposals of the past have ignored the needs of the health care provider to attain a reasonable measure of protection from contamination by the patient.
Providing apparatus and methodology having the capacity to promptly, efficiently, safety, and cost effectively address the health care needs of intubated patients across the entire spectrum of respiratory ailments comprises, prior to the present invention, a largely unresolved need. The range of procedures comprise: ventilating, aspiration, oxygenation, sampling, visual inspection, in-line sensing, pressure monitoring, flushing, and medication and/or lavage. Better protection for the health care provider has been a long-term unsatisfied need.
In brief summary, the present invention substantially alleviates the aforesaid problems of the prior art and comprises apparatus and methods by which a closed ventilating system accommodates multiple access to the respiratory system of an intubated medical patient without compromising the closed character of the system. Access to the respiratory system through one or more access sites of the closed system apparatus is provided to ventilate the lungs of the patient with gas or gases, to aspirate secretions from the lungs, to oxygenate the lungs to eliminate or reduce residual co2 therefrom, to visually inspect selected parts of the respiratory system, to sample sputum and gases, to sense parameters such as flow rates, pressure, and temperature, to flush with washing solution, and/or to administer medication, gases, and/or lavage.
The system can be unitized into severable and disposable components which are cost effective and accommodate good health care practices while promoting limitations on duration of use well within appropriate medical tolerances. Quick removal and replacement of discarded components is accommodated without introduction of additional risks to the patient. The technology of the present invention has substantial universal application to all respiratory patients, ranging from infants to the aged. Swivel fittings or adapters, in the form of an elbow or other configuration, provide dual or multiple fail safe sealing structure.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to substantially alleviate problems of the prior art in the field of respiratory care for medical patients.
It is an additional dominant object of the present invention to provide apparatus and related methods by which a closed ventilating system is able to accommodate multiple access to the respiratory system of an intubated medical patient.
An additional paramount object is the provision of novel apparatus and related methods by which a closed ventilating system accommodates multiple access to the respiratory system of an intubated medical patient without compromising the closed character of the system.
An additional object of the present invention is the provision of access through one or more access sites in a closed system respiratory apparatus to accommodate ventilating of the lungs of the patient with gas or gases, to aspirate secretions from the lungs, to oxygenate the lungs to eliminate or reduce residual carbon dioxide therefrom, to visually inspect selected parts of the respiratory system, to sample sputum and gases, to sense parameters such as flow rates, pressure, and temperature, to flush with washing solution and/or to administer medication, gases, and/or lavage, and related methods.
An additional significant object is the provision of a closed respiratory health care system unitized into severable and disposable components which are cost effective and accommodate good health care practices while promoting limitations on duration of use well within appropriate medical tolerances.
It is an additional valuable object to provide for quick removal and replacement of discardable components toward the end of their useful life in a respiratory health care system and to accommodate such without introduction of additional risks to the patient.
It is another dominant object to provide a respiratory health care system and related methods which has substantial universal application to all respiratory patients ranging from infants to the aged.
A further important object of the present invention is to provide features in a respiratory health care system which avoid imposition of stress on the components and prohibit occlusion of flow pathways.
It is a prominent object of the present invention to provide respiratory health care systems and related methods which accommodate simultaneous access to and treatment within the respiratory system of a medical patient.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide novel respiratory health care systems and related methods having minimal dead space.
It is another paramount object to provide novel fittings and/or adapters which accommodate stress relief rotation and/or structure dual or multiple fail safe sealing between the closed interior of the fitting or adapter and the atmosphere, and related methods.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description taken with reference to the accompanying drawings.